ZBA minutes 7-23-07

MOUNT KISCO ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS

Minutes

Tuesday, July 23, 2007

7:30 PM

Mount Kisco Village Hall

Members Present: Donald Rose

Robert Marino

Michael Zucker

Harold Boxer

Staff Present: Austin Cassidy

Karen Schleimer

Donald Rose: We will open the July 17, 2007 Zoning Board of Appeals meeting.

Approval of Minutes - June 19, 2007

Motion: Robert Marino

Second: Michael Zucker

Aye: Harold Boxer

Aye: Robert Marino

Aye: Michael Zucker

Aye: Donald Rose

Donald Rose: We again will be deferring final action on the resolution for Mount Kisco Commons, 195 North Bedford Road, Application ZBA2005-06, on request from the applicant's attorney. We have no returning cases.

New Case

Thomas & Gina O'Connor

35 Beverly Road

Application #ZBA07-04

Present: Thomas O'Connor

Gina O'Connor

Colleen Lee-O'Dell, 52 Beverly Road

Donald Rose: The O'Connor's have applied for building permit and were denied in a Notice of Denial from the Building Inspector, issued June 27, 2007. The denial was based on facts which are in the letters which you all received copies of, but in summary the present house is a legal non-complying structure, which clearly was built before the present zoning ordinance was in place, and it therefore has a setback which is less than the minimum 25 feet which would be required normally for a house in this situation. There is a further provision in the code that even if the work on the house did not involve any new construction that would also encroach on the setback zone, there would still be a requirement for a zoning variance. We are here tonight on the application of the O'Connor's to request a variance to allow them to build according to their plans. All the requirements have been met and all the fees have been paid. Let me ask the board members; have any of you observed the property, driven by? That's good, we all have. So we have an idea from our drive-by what the house looks like and what the situation is. Please present to us what you have and what the plans are.

Thomas O'Connor: The frontage is I believe about three feet into the setback, and in order to keep the character of the house without getting into major structural concerns is to build on the existing footing.

Donald Rose: Please back up and indicate what the present house has in it and what the reason for the additional space is; what's motivating that.

Thomas O'Connor: The present house is a single floor. It's considered a floor and a half. The top floor is attic space right now, and there is not enough headroom to finish the upstairs as is to make it a livable space. Since we've moved in we had two children and are running out of room on the first floor. We're proposing to put a couple of bedrooms upstairs.

Harold Boxer: How does the first floor configure? We have the proposed, but what does it look like now?

Gina O'Connor: There is a living room, dining room, kitchen and then the bedrooms are on the wing next to the garage.

Donald Rose: Two bedrooms?

Thomas O'Connor: Yes. Two bedrooms on that first floor. We've actually commandeered the dining room to become a playroom.

Gina O'Connor: I'm forgetting what's what, because our dining room is no longer our dining room.

Harold Boxer: Your children are -

Gina O'Connor: Two girls, and they share a room since we have two bedrooms.

Donald Rose: The existing house has one full bath and one half bath?

Thomas O'Connor: It's actually two full baths on the first floor.

Donald Rose: Where is the second full bath?

Thomas O'Connor: It's on the wing where the garage is. That's considered the master suite; the last bedroom.

Donald Rose: Then that's a full bathroom actually?

Thomas O'Connor: It will become a half bath with the construction.

Donald Rose: Because you will be adding a stairway.

Thomas O'Connor: Correct. So in order to accommodate the staircase relocations, we are decreasing that bath size and we're adding a bathroom upstairs. Actually a master bath as well.

Donald Rose: For the record, did you ever consider making the addition only over the back portion of the present house so that the front most fa�ade would be untouched?

Thomas O'Connor: We considered that. The problem is that the footings on that house will not support a second floor, based on our engineers and our architects.

Donald Rose: So that wing, which obviously was added at some later date, was done just for the weight of the single story.

Thomas O'Connor: Correct. Sometime in the forties or fifties. As you see in the drawings, it's basically going over the existing foundation that was built in 1915 or 1917, which based on our engineers thoughts, it can support a second floor.

Gina O'Connor: The increase is six feet.

Thomas O'Connor: As far as the height increase is concerned, we are really only raising the ridge approximately six feet; give or take a foot. If I could lift the roof that's on there now and just put walls underneath it I would do that. We are trying to restore the craftsman look of the house.

Robert Marino: This was originally an arts and crafts bungalow style?

Gina O'Connor: It was.

Donald Rose: It makes it look more like a ranch with that long extension.

Thomas O'Connor: I guess cosmetically if there are any funds left, we'll try to dress that up. A few years back we built the garage, and our intention was to make it look like it had been there since the house was built, and I think we achieved that or came close to it.

Donald Rose: Since all of us have been there, I don't think there is a need for any additional site visit.

Harold Boxer: Over here, are you going to have three ridges? How does that work? Is this part coming forward?

Gina O'Connor: Here, I have pictures.

Thomas O'Connor: This is the perfect example of what you're looking for.

Donald Rose: It basically carries up, as you can see, there is an existing foyer, and over that they'll be adding the master bath. So the existing ridge lines will be lifted up from the side; it will look like this, from the side it probably looks like that now except that it's lower.

Thomas O'Connor: Correct. It's pretty much identical to what it is now with the exception of height. You can look at those two ridge lines.

Gina O'Connor: It needs a lot of work still.

Harold Boxer: Is it stucco?

Thomas O'Connor: Stucco on the bottom and cedar on the top floor, which we will maintain. If you take a look where that front part comes out, the actual footing runs on the side of the porch. So if we were to set it back any further within the setbacks, let's say, we'd have to get into some re-engineering of the structure to carry that front load.

Harold Boxer: It's really not a question of going into the setbacks, because the law was changed a couple of years ago, so any non-conforming building cannot be built on, according to the code, so you don't have to focus on the setback. You have to focus on how this will impact, what other people will see, whether what you have as far as design, is that the only way you can go? Is there another way to go? Those are the different kinds of things we're looking at.

Colleen Lee-O'Dell: Thank you. I'm Colleen Lee O'Dell; I live at 52 Beverly Road. My husband and I and my two girls moved here nine years ago and our realtor whipped on passed the O'Connor's home; it had a “For Sale” sign; she said don't bother. It's a major fixer-upper; we are not even going in the door. Here we are nine years later and it's the jewel of Beverly Road. It fits in. It's gorgeous. It's so well-maintained and they are terrific neighbors and owners. I trust that what they do will continue to keep with the structure. They have done that all along. The garage addition is amazing. Their landscaping is superb, and their attitude towards the community is exceptional. I also want to say as far as vantage point; because of mature shrubs and the fact that it sits so beautifully on that little hill, it's not going to overwhelm the neighborhood whatsoever. From every angle as you approach that property, it's going to be beautiful. I speak for the surrounding neighbors, since no one else is here, to say please let them do what they want to do. Thank you.

Donald Rose: Thank you. Just to underscore that, the addition of the garage was done in a way that again ties back into the original house. Before it looked like it was just a stucco wall addition that ended.

Thomas O'Connor: That's exactly what it was.

Austin Cassidy: On that note, you are all squared away with architects?

Thomas O'Connor: Yes we are. They have seen our plans and gave us the okay to proceed.

Robert Marino: I imagine they were pretty pleased with it.

Thomas O'Connor: I do think they were. We were the last ones on the agenda that night, so it was late.

Donald Rose: Is the chimney extension going to be with stone?

Thomas O'Connor: Yes, it most definitely will be. The one that is there now is in poor condition. We're not going to patch it, we're going rebuild it.

Donald Rose: Yes, take it down and re-build it safely. It certainly adds to the community. Are there other questions from the board? Ordinarily there would be the consideration of trying to reduce the setback; but the setback is existing, it is what it is, and that would be that way whether the addition were towards the front or anywhere else on the house. So it's really just a question of going through the procedure. There are five steps required by the State for a board to consider issuing an area variance which this is by definition. Let us note for the record that no other members of the public are in the audience. If there are no further questions from the board I would entertain a motion to close the public hearing so that we can immediately review the application and vote.

Motion to Close Public Hearing

Motion: Harold Boxer

Second: Robert Marino

Aye: Michael Zucker

Aye: Robert Marino

Aye: Harold Boxer

Aye: Donald Rose

Donald Rose: We will go through the five factors that are prescribed for us, and the first of the five is whether an undesirable change will be produced in the character of the neighborhood or a detriment to nearby properties will be created by the granting of the area variance.

Harold Boxer: The answer is no.

Donald Rose: It seems to be agreed. Two; whether the benefit sought by the applicant could be achieved by some other method feasible for the applicant to pursue other than an area variance. Again, I think the answer is no - based on our discussion. Three; whether the requested area variance is substantial; and again in this case it's a moot point because the setback is presently three feet, and there will be no increase in the penetration into the setback zone. Four; whether the proposed variance will have an adverse effect or impact on the physical or environmental conditions in the neighborhood or district. Again, I don't think there are any issues of that sort involved in this particular case. And, five, this sounds like a killer but it's not; whether the alleged difficulty was self-created, which consideration shall be relevant to the decision of the Board of Appeals but shall not necessarily preclude the granting of the area variance.

Harold Boxer: As with any variance, it's always self created.

Donald Rose: The applicant or the applicant's architect would know up front that there is a situation with the building that would require a variance. But of course in this case, there was the choice of either doing nothing, or selling the property and looking for a larger house, neither which is very practical. Are there any other comments from the members on any of these five issues? If not, I would ask that someone construct a motion.

Robert Marino: I would move that the application be granted in accordance with the plans as prepared and drafted by Michael Smith dated November 28, 2006, and they are on S 9 2 and S 9 1, and there is an original site plan, proposed floor plans dated June 10, 2007.

Motion to Grant Variance to Thomas & Gina O'Connor, 35 Beverly Road, #ZBA07-04

Motion: Robert Marino

Second: Michael Zucker

Aye: Harold Boxer

Aye: Michael Zucker

Aye: Robert Marino

Aye: Donald Rose

Motion to Adjourn Meeting

Motion: Harold Boxer

Second: Robert Marino

Aye: Michael Zucker

Aye: Robert Marino

Aye: Harold Boxer

Aye: Donald Rose

Meeting adjourned at 8:30 pm.

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Zoning Board of Appeals July 17, 2007

Created by nplacona. Last modified 2008-05-05 14:23:01.